Curating a meaningful, magnetic brand is about SO more than how you look online. Leveraging a consistent and attract visual language is absolutely key to building Brand Awareness: but the REAL magic happens when your brand begins to develop a deep emotional bond and is rewarded with sincere customer loyalty. Cultivating this kind of audience alchemy is a labor intensive, love-filled process that centers the customer throughout the entire product or service experience. As your brand’s #1 ambassador and steward, defining this story begins with your commitment to excellence in all aspects of your business, from every social media post and in every personal client interaction!

The word “brand” is thrown around so casually in the online space that it’s become virtually meaningless. For this conversation, I’d like to reframe the exploration of brand in a question: “What BIG narrative is your brand helping write as you change the world through your work?” Brand is a vehicle for your story, a container for meaning.

Sound a little intellectual?

Don’t worry, babe! I’m going to make this SUPER practical and dive right in to the Brand Resonance Pyramid for actionable advice that you can implement right now in your business!

Brand Salience { Awareness & Recall }

The very foundation of your strong Brand Resonance Pyramid is deep, far-reaching Brand Awareness. This is the ease with which any member of your audience can recall key brand identifiers, and also the extent to which your audience associates their everyday experiences and life with your brand. { ie, if you were to find a lil Jade buddha in a shop somewhere and think of me! }

A pre-requisite for cultivating truly effective Brand Awareness is to become so well known in your niche that your name is synonymous with the service itself. In case you haven’t already selected a clear niche for your product or services, here are some tips:

Review client testimonials! What values do your clients reflect again and again to you? Listen to what they appreciate the most and position your brand accordingly.

Analyze your audience! Dig into those metrics. What do your followers have in common? What demographic characteristics define this group?

Brand Performance { Trust & Differentiation }

Brand Performance is the second level of your long-lasting Brand Resonance Pyramid. This is where your clients test you: how well you deliver determines if you build trust and differentiate yourself from others offering similar services in your niche. If you falter at Brand Performance, you won’t make it up the pyramid!

In order to build trust, it’s necessary for your audience to have a clear understanding of your vision and values. At this stage, your customers want to know what you’re about – they are open-minded, gathering information, watching with curiosity. Here are some tips for establishing a strong sense of trust in this second stage of your Brand Resonance Pyramid:

Consistency is key! It doesn’t matter which platforms you are active on, so long as you are committed to showing up regularly for that audience.

Email marketing is so important here! It’s critical to build trust with your audience on a platform you own. Treat those who trust you with their email address like your inner circle: give them special offers and bonus content to bring them into closer relationship with you and show them how amazing what you do is!

Brand Judgements { Perception & Reactions }

Brand Judgements is the third level of your sustainable Brand Resonance Pyramid – this is where things get real. As your brand advances into this stage, your audience wants to know MORE. They want to get closer, get a peek behind the curtain, and discern if who you’ve claimed to be { Brand Performance } aligns with their intuited gut instinct.

To deepen your connection with your audience into a true emotional bond, it’s important to always show up in your brand from a space of passion and integrity. Here are some practical tips to ensure that the perception you are creating reflects the actuality of who you are as you enter the third stage of your Brand Resonance Pyramid:

Curate your vocabulary! Be specific and intentional with the word choice you use, and consider the cultural connotations. Words like “tribe” reflect patterns of appropriation of indigenous culture by white cultures.

Invite your audience into your brand! Utilize those “vote” panels in your Insta stories, run surveys through your email list, and create products that speak EXACTLY to the questions you’re getting on the daily. Put your ego to-the-side, babe. It’s all about those Soul Clients!

Brand Resonance { Loyalty & Love }

Brand Resonance is the golden PINNACLE of those whole labor of love! This envied position is where brands become truly woven into the very fabric of your customer’s lifestyle. At this stage, continued high performance is non-negotiable and a deep, intuitive connection with your people is absolutely necessary to ensure the longevity of your brand’s position.

To maintain brand resonance, it is your responsibility and privilege to REWARD your audience for their trust and investment! After all, they’ve carried you all. the. way. to. the. TOP! Here are two practical tips for expanding your brand into this larger-than-life space.

Invite your clients to build your brand legacy! Emphasize this brand isn’t about you – this is a movement, and you are lucky enough to be the steward and leader of where you all go next. Share the spotlight. Get outta that limelight and share it with the girls who’ve had your back the whole way up!

Make your symbology sacred! Give your people every opportunity to rep your brand and encourage them to put their own spin on it. Be loud and CLEAR, daily, as to what your brand stands for and what it doesn’t. Give folks permission to be awesome. Start your own hashtags, run contests, and host giveaways! Cultivate community in intentional ways.

Whew!

SO MUCH delicious information. Here’s where you can begin implementing this delicious education!

Identify which stage of the pyramid your brand is currently in. Your stage relates to how much intentional work you have invested, not how long you’ve been in business. I’ve seen dead brands at 5 years and rocket-fuel brands at 5 months.

Develop a strategy to fully master your current stage of development within the next 3-6 months.

Concurrently, shore up your preceding stage(s) of the pyramid with several key daily or weekly actions. { Ie, if you are mastering Brand Performance, you might run a monthly Brand Awareness ad as well as throw a local event and make three new LinkedIn connections per day }

The Brand Development Pyramid is about holistic thinking. With that as your intention, I have no doubt that you will manifest your Soul Clients!

The word womxn is used on this site to intentionally include individuals who may diverge from the historically white cisgender norm of the feminist movement. The “x” in womxn etymologically distinguishes that womxn are not the “derivative help-meet” of men as in the Biblical story of Adam & Eve, but rather are distinct from and equal to men.